1. Fabrication

ANFF-Q has a large range of instruments that can be used to fabricate components and devices and high-quality research consumables. Example applications include:

  • Nanoscale 3D printing
  • Soft-lithography
  • Photo-lithography
  • Deposition techniques for the creation of thin films and nanostructures in semiconductors, MEMS, optics, wear-resistant coatings, solar cells and flexible electronics, and flexible transistor fabrication
  • Etching – reactive ion etching, deep reactive ion etching, wet etching and XeF2 etching
  • Microfluidic devices – using photolithography, soft-lithography, device packaging

If you would like to engage our ANFF-Q Professional Officers to fabricate something for you, email us your specifications. An ANFF-Q staff member will respond within two working days to discuss your project and provide you with a quote for the requested work.

2. Technical Consulting

You can innovate rapidly and spend more wisely by accessing ANFF-Q’s cutting-edge research facilities and highly experienced Professional Officers:

  • investigate your idea and generate pilot data without having to invest heavily in staff and instrumentation for a project before it is proven to be valuable
  • reduce optimisation time thanks to support from our expert Professional Officers who perform process development on all of our tools and can provide expert technical guidance
  • access facilities for full iteration cycles—design, fabrication, characterisation, analysis and review—in one location

With our assistance you can elevate your research and development to the next level, with better designs, shorter development iteration cycles and expert advice. If you would like to explore the feasibility of a concept or progress a research project, you can engage ANFF-Q Professional Officers to project manage, and plan and deliver product and process development.

3. Surface Analysis & Material Characterisation

ANFF-Q has instrument suites in material and surface characterisation including atomic force, Raman and confocal laser scanning microscopes, optical profilers, and thermal analysis and vibrational spectroscopy tools. These instruments can be used for:

  • nanoscale material and surface characterisation
  • electrical materials characterisation
  • determining interaction forces
  • mechanical properties mapping
  • thin film thickness measurements
  • thin film characterisation
  • 3D reconstruction of topologically complex structures at high resolution
  • sharp imaging of thick specimens at varying depths
  • determining chemical compositions of samples

If you would like to engage our ANFF-Q Professional Officers to characterise something for you, email us your specifications. An ANFF-Q staff member will respond within two working days to discuss your project and provide you with a quote for the requested work.

4. Custom Research Consumables

ANFF-Qld can provide photomasks for you according to your design. To request a custom mask fabrication.Please note: All mask blanks are sodalime. If you wish to order a chrome mask based on a different mask blank (e.g. quartz), please let us know in your query, however longer production times may apply.

ANFF-Qld can provide a range of custom, high-quality research consumables. ANFF-Qld also provides nano 3D printing services and software to design and create highly-specialised items.

Silicon Carbide on Silicon Wafers

The superior properties of silicon carbide (SiC) can create better products for MEMS, photonics and thin membranes, and SiC coatings could even provide a route to graphene on silicon (Si).  Additionally, SiC’s epitaxial growth compatibility with aluminium nitride and galium nitride enhances the range of devices that can be developed with SiC. However, to manufacture these products at a low cost and make them commercially viable will require the utilisation of mature silicon wafer technology.

The Griffith Site of ANFF-Q, in conjunction with SPT Microtechnologies, has developed a production reactor for the epitaxial growth of 3C SiC on Si wafers, providing the route for the use of SiC on Si in mass production and bridging the gap between mature silicon wafer technology and emerging innovative SiC applications.

In collaboration with our industry partners, we would like to promote the use and development of SiC technology. If you are interested in obtaining 3C SiC on Si wafers from 2 ” to 300 mm, or would like to discuss collaborative projects or device fabrication please contact the ANFF-Q Facility Manager.

Silicon Carbide Windows

ANFF-Q has a range of silicon carbide films that can be used for e-beam and x-ray windows.

Our silicon carbide membranes come in 380 μm thick silicon square-sided frames. Membrane window size range is up to 6mm for a 10mm frame and up to 10mm for a 20mm frame. SiC membrane thickness range 50nm – 1000nm depending on window size.

For more details, please contact us by emailig to anff@uq.edu.au.